Walks from the Doorstep: The North Wessex Downs

Walbury Hill and Combe Gibbet

If you only do one walk, make it this. Walbury Hill is the highest chalk hill in England at 297 metres, crowned by the ramparts of an Iron Age fort, and on a clear day the view stretches across three counties. From the ridge, an easy track leads along Gallows Down to Combe Gibbet, a tall wooden gallows standing alone on an ancient long barrow. The history is grim, the setting is glorious, and you will likely have it almost to yourself. The wind can be fierce on the top, so bring a layer.

Watership Down

Just over the Hampshire border lies Watership Down, the chalk ridge made famous by Richard Adams' novel. A circular walk from the lanes near Kingsclere climbs through old broad-leaf woodland and out onto open downland, with skylarks overhead in summer and far-reaching views in every direction. It is a steadier climb than Walbury, and every bit as rewarding.

The Kennet and Avon Canal

For an easy, flat walk with no map required, follow the Kennet and Avon Canal. The prettiest stretch runs west from Newbury through Kintbury towards Hungerford, past locks, swing bridges and eighteenth-century brickwork, with the Kennet Valley rolling away on either side. Around Hungerford Marsh the canal becomes a nature reserve where more than a hundred bird species have been recorded. Keep an eye out for the old pillboxes half-hidden in the bank, a reminder of when this quiet line of water was a planned last line of defence.

Closer to home

You do not have to go far at all. Footpaths thread the fields and woods right around the cabin. A short drive brings you to Donnington Castle, a ruined hilltop gatehouse with open grounds, or Greenham Common, a vast former airbase now returned to heathland and grazed by cattle. Both are free, open all year, and made for a slow morning stroll.